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Can anyone advise me?

Hello,
I have a question about where Leo sleeps. He sleeps in our kitchen and always has. I put his bed in there at night and he quite happily climbs in and I dont hear a peep until the morning.
Its been very very cold here lately, not as cold as some countries I know but neither the less cold. We dont have heat in our kitchen and although its not exactly the antartic in there I wonder if he's warm enough.

I let him sleep with me last night as it was -7 outside. I dont mind him sleeping in with me (although the snoring at 3am was a bit much....... .him not me) but Im not sure I want it to be a long term thing.

Anyone have any thoughts or advice? I'd hate to think he was too cold at night.

I think the kitchen in a comfy bed is fine unless the house goes really really cold. A high sided bed that makes a kind of nest is better than something flat as it will hold in heat (and dogs seem to really prefer them too) and you can always add an extre snuggling blanket. For an older dog there are even heated pads you can buy via pet shops that will keep them toasty. You can also buy wool vetbed material -- I have that in the dogs' crates in winter and it last *forever*. (also a crate, covered entirely (if door closed) or on three sides (if open) with bed inside is going to be warmer too than a bed on the open kitchen floor so might be a thought).

Bronteglen makes great wool vetbed (that's what I bought, their 'gold' vetbed) and also fantastic wool-lined dog beds too.

Karlin,
Thank you so much....I feel much better and not like a bad Momma.
He has a high sided bed with an extra sheep skin blanket in it. I'll add an extra fleece too just to be sure.
The crate is an exellent idea, I'd never thought of that.

And, in our experience, if he sleeps with you 3 nights in a row it's a forever thing! Oddly, we'd miss it terribly now if he didn't sleep with us. That was one of the stipulations when we acquired Bentley: he'd never sleep with us and never jump on the furniture. Both are out the window!

My two have quilted jackets that they wear when we go camping - known as their camping pyjamas! With night temperatures so low, they've been wearing them at night for the past two weeks. They sleep in the sitting room, but I turn the heating down at night. It also means they are well wrapped up when they go out into the frozen garden first thing in the morning.

My 3 boys sleep in crates downstairs. 2 share the big 6 dog crate with Winston Alexander using the single next to it. I use acryllic fleece covered matresses for them, but when it can get really cold for 10 years old arthritic Rebel, I put in an electric heated pad under the matress, with the flex outside the cage to prevent it being chewed by Joe. Rebel's arthritis seems to benefit from having the heat, so I will keep it switched on until the temperature reaches double figures. If his part of the craate is too warm for him to be comfortable, there is plenty of space in there for him to move away from the heat.

Our Sophie sleeps in her crate at night (we leave the door open...) and in winter, I cover it. I bought a length of polyester "polar fleece" and drape it on the top and three sides. It keeps her very comfy cozy and gives her a little cave. She absolutely loves it in there and pesters both of us until we go to bed, so that SHE can go to bed. LOL

My parents have a VERY old dog who seems to prefer sleeping on the heating vents when they are on during the coldest part of the winters. My Mother was thinking about buying her a pet proof heating pad to go in her new super plush bed. I saw some home made hand warmers in pinterest and got to thinking hmmmm....maybe the dog might like this. The ones I first saw were filled with rice, I did some web hunting and discovered whole feed corn is pretty much the safest most cost effective filler. So I made one for her and she LOVES it.

You pop it in the microwave, they stay warm for long time. I did have some worries she may try to eat the corn filled pillow but then again she doesn't have many teeth

Actually I made a few larger ones for several family members (including myself) for Christmas....they are lovely I heat mine up throw in under the covers where I feet lay, go brush my teeth and WOW immediate warm toes when I go to bed. I think my husband is grateful

How to make them:

Here's the disclaimer- don't burn yourself, amazingly if you heat something for 3 or so minutes in your microwave its going to come out HOT duh--I start out heating 1 minute at a time until I figure out the best temp for me.

Use whole feed corn do yourself a favor and buy it from a good source (like a real feed store- or a all natural online store) sometimes feed corn has bugs in it, as you can guess not good for you or animals eating the feed corn.

If you sew just make a pillow and pillow cover for washing use 100% cotton, if sewing is not your thing no problem use a sock---all cotton knee length sock would work just tie the end closed.
I also found that filling about 4 cups of feed corn works best. Its a pretty strange thing to put in your microwave but again heat slowly. It will NOT make popcorn but will smell a little farmy....I also suggest to stay and watch as it heats again feed corn has the LESS risk of fire but never too safe.

Melissa
"If you don't own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life."
-Roger Caras